Retired Sonos Staff

End of Software Support - Clarifications

Dec 8, 2022 11:29 AM UTC
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We announced yesterday that some of our oldest Sonos products will be moving into a legacy mode in May of 2020. Our commitment is to support products with regular software updates for a minimum of five years after we stop selling them, and we have a track record of supporting products far longer.

Here is some public information we’ve shared, gathered into one place to respond to some of your questions in one easy thread, so that people can find the correct information easily.

Beginning in May, software updates and new features from Sonos will only be delivered to systems with only modern products.

After May, systems that include legacy products will continue to work as before - but they will no longer receive software updates or new features.

Sonos will work to maintain the existing experience and conduct bug fixes, but our efforts will ultimately be limited by the lack of memory and processing power of these legacy products.

We don’t expect any immediate impact to your experience, but access to services and overall functionality will eventually be disrupted, particularly as partners evolve their own services and features.

Customers with both legacy and modern products have time to decide what option is best for them. You can continue to use your whole system in legacy mode - in this case, it will stop receiving updates and new features.

You will also be able to separate your legacy products from your modern products, so that the modern products can still receive updates and new features, and legacy products can still be used separately. We’ll have more information on how to do this in May when you can take that action.

Another option available to all customers with legacy products is to take advantage of the Trade Up program, which allows you to upgrade older Sonos products to modern ones with a 30% discount. Trade Up will be open to customers at any time should they decide to upgrade.

We recognize this is new for Sonos owners, just as it is for Sonos. We are committed to help you by making options available to you to support the best decision for your home.

If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate with asking.

Update 2/22: A message from our CEO

We heard you. We did not get this right from the start. My apologies for that and I wanted to personally assure you of the path forward:

First, rest assured that come May, when we end new software updates for our legacy products, they will continue to work as they do today. We are not bricking them, we are not forcing them into obsolescence, and we are not taking anything away. Many of you have invested heavily in your Sonos systems, and we intend to honor that investment for as long as possible. While legacy Sonos products won’t get new software features, we pledge to keep them updated with bug fixes and security patches for as long as possible. If we run into something core to the experience that can’t be addressed, we’ll work to offer an alternative solution and let you know about any changes you’ll see in your experience.

Secondly, we heard you on the issue of legacy products and modern products not being able to coexist in your home. We are working on a way to split your system so that modern products work together and get the latest features, while legacy products work together and remain in their current state. We’re finalizing details on this plan and will share more in the coming weeks.

While we have a lot of great products and features in the pipeline, we want our customers to upgrade to our latest and greatest products when they’re excited by what the new products offer, not because they feel forced to do so. That’s the intent of the trade up program we launched for our loyal customers.

Thank you for being a Sonos customer. Thank you for taking the time to give us your feedback. I hope that you’ll forgive our misstep, and let us earn back your trust. Without you, Sonos wouldn’t exist and we’ll work harder than ever to earn your loyalty every single day.

If you have any further questions please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Patrick Spence
CEO, Sonos

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barrysport

Lyricist II

This is so disappointing. What was such a great brand is ruined in a day.

I have invested a ton of money, have bragged about sonos products, encouraged others to join the sonos team. And now you render all of this obsolete by labeling the old products legacy...what a sham. These products are not even old. But no support going forward?

Please tell me you are going to reconsider.....or o will never buy another sonos product ever again.

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ninjabob

Chromatic Producer I

Thank you that someone at Sonos had the good sense to correct this. That was an incredibly stupid communications/strategy blunder which I am sure was driven by the need to keep quarterly numbers up for wall street.

Read it again - he hasn't corrected anything - he has just reiterated what has already been said.

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busy trying to edit the queue

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joe Gore

Lyricist I

Wow. They’ll be studying this PR disaster in business schools for years to come. Deleting the thread of customer complaints only poured gasoline on the fire. That was just monumentally stupid.

I’ve read through the original announcement and the “clarification” multiple times. The latter simply restates the former, but with added claims about “understanding” and “hearing” customer concerns. The only substantive difference I can discern is that originally the split-system option was a possibility for May. Now it’s a possibility “in the coming weeks.” Impressive.

How on earth can you claim that legacy products will continue to operate as before when they will no longer co-exist on the same system as eligible-for-update products? The integrated system is pretty much the sole reason I invested in Sonos.

Some of us are accustomed to unwelcome obsolescence — hey, I’ve been an Apple user for decades! But it’s rare to see these transitions handled so ineptly: first in a graceless and high-handed way, followed by a smarmy repetition of the original statement, accompanied by the reek of corporate panic.

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Guy_19

Enthusiast II

We need clarity, if a provider changes their API is this deemed a bug fix or a new feature. The letter doesn’t tell us anything new. Sonos without a major content provider such as Spotify is significantly less valuable. Is that a bug fix because it’s Spotify which carries more weight than say local radio? Only time will tell.

@MrSwadge = Yeah… I read that too quickly with far too much optimism, and missed the lack of anything tangible being offered. I quickly edited my post, still not a satisfactory response.

@MrSwadge and @Taco5layer, this chunk speaks to that:

While legacy Sonos products won’t get new software features, we pledge to keep them updated with bug fixes and security patches for as long as possible. If we run into something core to the experience that can’t be addressed, we’ll work to offer an alternative solution and let you know about any changes you’ll see in your experience.

These devices are already strained hardware wise, but if something core to the experience changes, we’ll do what we can for as long as possible.

So, to be clear, you are stating that Sonos will patch breaking changes by third-party providers to keep music services functional until there is a solid technical reason that it is no longer possible. e.g. buffer underrun where the processor cannot keep up with the stream. That scenario seems unlikely given that we’re talking about an audio stream at a given bitrate which is audibly the same to most humans if increased.

For as long as possible, we’ll be keeping them updated with bug fixes and security patches. These devices have already reached the limit of their memory and processing power, but as long as a fix is possible for a change, we’ll do the best we can to get it fixed.

I am sure that it’s been a tough day Ryan, but just to say that if I cannot play the same music in all 6 rooms, where 2 rooms are “legacy” and 4 rooms are “modern”, i.e. party mode, then it’s game over.

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7 rooms: One SL Stereo Pair, One SL x 2, Move, Play:5 Gen2 & Port into Arcam AVR with AE floorstanders, Port into Denon microsystem.

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bogsyNYC

Lyricist I

I spend thousand of dollars for my SONOS system and now it’s a crap. And trading it up for a 30% discount is more than a slap in the face it’s a joke. I think we the people affected should make a petition or else we all end up empty handed. Hence they got our money they became rich and we lose. This is will come to a legal matter. Let’s all our voices be heard.

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triskellion

Contributor I

As I see it, the fact still remains that if I opt for the ‘split’ Sonos systems (so I can get updates for my Moderns) then I will not be able to group across that split or sync music across it.

If my assumption is still correct, then Mr Spence’s letter does nothing for me.

Yep! Total bull! Here’s a thing. Last Thursday. Last week! I ordered a Sonos amp to add to my system. Friday it was delivered. Set it up. Pretty happy with it. Sounds quite good through some huge floorstanders I have. Happy bunny. Cost me £500. Lot of money but it fits in with the rest of my Sonos system. I know it’s a good product etc. We all get it yeah?

Now a week after ordering it! I find that due to me having a connect in my system a bad tooth in the hifi mouth I will never be able to update this £500 amp and keep it in the same network I bought it for I will not be able to use it as advertised effectively. I am now reeling.

you just don’t get it do you! We all bought into a system, not a speaker, not a streamer, not an amp a system you have just broken a lot of people’s systems for good unless you find a better way I sincerely hope you can.

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caseyhanewall

I will only add that beyond everything stated on cost and customer loyalty, the waste alone that my legacy and fully functioning products would create - coupled with that of everybody else’s - is alarming. Has Sonos given no thought on creating massive amounts of unnecessary hazardous e-waste? That is as troublesome to me as the potential lost financial investment I may be facing. One of the reasons I spent more on Sonos was that I assumed I would be investing in electronic equipment that would last longer and create last damage to the planet.

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robinm0

Enthusiast I

Thank you that someone at Sonos had the good sense to correct this. That was an incredibly stupid communications/strategy blunder which I am sure was driven by the need to keep quarterly numbers up for wall street.

Your first sentence is, sadly, incorrect. Some of Sonos’ current management seemingly wouldn’t recognise good sense even if it ran into them. None of the soon-to-be former CEO’s latest e-mail is anything other than standard corporate waffle. Your second statement is true; at least that was the intention. That worked well…..

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G0csteve

Contributor I

Why dont they come up with a program to UPGRADE our existing hardware with new processing and memory to stay current at a fractionary cost of new (including the tradeup 30%)???? I’d send one in at a time to go thru that or send in and exchange for a tested upgraded hardware unit!

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John V

Enthusiast I

Sonos loyal customers have saved for years to build their Sonos systems in their homes and are proud of it.

Patrick because of this you have personally destroyed your loyal base and made us all feel we now have garbage for a sound system. I now look at my devices as Thousands of dollars of junk That I am embarrassed to own. Worst yet I had to apologize to my friends and family for your greed.

now you’re trying to convince us that Sonos has a great pipeline of new products that are coming. All I see now is that you will be added more and more of our Sonos components to your legacy list. And your offering a split system as a solution. Or buy new for 30% off. Do you think we are dopes?

well it is very clear now that the Sonos business model has changed to get customers to purchase updated products even when the hardware is still in perfectly working order. This business model will fail. Customers will not put up with this.

good luck on your upcoming earnings call. You’re going to need it.

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